This invention relates to a telephonic therapy device for speech-impaired persons and/or hearing impaired persons. An aim of the invention is to help such persons become proficient in the use of telephones.
There are currently in use telecommunication devices for helping deaf people to communicate via the telephone. One such telecommunication device comprises an alphabetical keyboard electronically (acoustically) connected to a telephone and to a display screen in front of the human making the telephone call. A similar screen and keyboard are located at the receiving party's telephone. Each party can type a message on his/her keyboard; that message is sent over the telephone lines to the other party, such that the message simultaneously appears on both display screens. The two people can carry on a conversation by typing what each has to say on his/her keyboard.
Unfortunately telecommunication devices for the deaf (termed TDDs) are relatively costly and require some training on the part of hearing-impaired persons before such persons can become proficient in their use. Such training is relatively costly because it involves protracted use of commercial telephone lines, with correspondingly high service charges. Also, such communication devices require that the persons using the devices acquire skills in grammar, spelling, vocabulary and sentence structure in order for the person to effectively convey his/her message to the other person. Often the hearing-impaired person lacks the necessary skills to make full use of the telecommunication devices.
The present invention concerns a training device usable by hearing-impaired or speech-impaired persons so that they can upgrade their skills sufficiently for them to use the above-described telecommunication devices for the deaf or conventional telephones, respectively. The training device comprises two or more telephone handsets electrically interconnected so that a voice signal initiated at one handset is amplified during transmission of the signal to the other handset(s). The training device operates on household current, not the telephone lines. Therefore, operating costs for the training device are relatively low.
In use of the training device for the speech-impaired, a speech therapist (instructor) speaks a message into one of the telephone handsets; the student(s) listen to the message and repeat it back to the instructor, using the other telephone handset(s). Various messages and voice responses go back and forth between the handsets, such that over time the students gain proficiency in word comprehension and vocal annunciation. For hearing-impaired, an instructor types a message on the above-described telecommunication device for the deaf. A student types a message to the instructor.
The training device will help the speech-impaired and/or hearing-impaired to improve their telephone skills without actually requiring the use of commercial telephone lines. The amplifier within the training device enables the hearing-impaired to make effective meaningful use of the training device.